- Date
- January 2, 2019, 11:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Maria Island, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N772MGRobinson R44
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 3, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190102000019A
- Case key
- 98861
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's loss of helicopter control while maneuvering at a low altitude after being struck in the head by a bird.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, while making a video of a boat, he flew the helicopter with the doors removed about 20 ft above the water and 3/4 mile offshore and saw seabirds ahead crossing right to left but he thought they would be not be a problem. Shortly after seeing the birds, he initiated a right turn to follow the boat, and while he was looking over his right shoulder, he felt an object, which he believed was a seabird, strike him in the back of the head. While dazed from the head strike, he flared to reduce speed, and the helicopter settled into the water. He then applied left lateral cyclic to stop the main rotor blade's rotation, and the helicopter rolled left and inverted in the water. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and main rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The helicopter pilot reported that, while making a video of a boat, he flew the helicopter with the doors removed about 20 feet above the water, ¾ mile offshore, and saw seabirds ahead crossing from his right to left and thought they would be no factor. Shortly after seeing the birds, he initiated a right turn to follow the boat, and while he was looking over his right shoulder, he felt an object strike him in the back of the head. While dazed from the head strike, he flared to reduce speed, and the helicopter settled into the water. He then applied left lateral cyclic to stop the main rotor blade's rotation, and the helicopter rolled left and inverted in the water. The pilot reported that he believed he had been hit in the head by a seabird. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and main rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N772MG
- Reported as
- Robinson R44 (Undesignat)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2397
- Built
- 2015
- Airframe hours
- 228.52
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-F1B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Sarasota Helicopter Services Llc
- Registered owner
- Sarasota Helicopter Services Llc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 30, 2018
- Departed
- FA22 · Sarasota, FL
- Destination
- SRQ · Sarasota, FL
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Handheld GPS
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 67
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 18, 2018
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,685 total · 340 in this make and model · 1,515 as pilot in command · 22 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- KSRQ, 11 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 8, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.